Concrete spacer



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June 5, 1923.

W. E. WHITE CONCRETE SPACER 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J. M m, I I

Filed Jan. 29

June 5, 1923.

W. E. WHITE CONCRETE SPACER Filed Jan. 29 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WILLIAM E. WHITE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

' CONCRETE SPACER.

Application filed January 29, 1921; emu No. 440,931.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM E. WHITE; a citizen of the United States, and resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Concrete Spacer,'of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for use in connection with the reinforcing of concrete, and particularly to a novel general utility spacer or implement employed for locating reinforcing bars.

@ne of the important objects of my invention is to provide a skeleton structure adapted for general use as a spacer. in locating bars for reinforcement of floors and other horizontal walls it is common to provide a length of a spacingstructure upon which the reinforcing bars are mounted and secured. Such a device should have certain characteristics such as economy in cost of construction, lightness and stability and these elements are present in the structure here disclosed. It is customary also, in the construction of reinforced concrete beams to provide transverse spacing elements which are fitted between the vertical walls of the form and these likewise should possess similar characteristics.

In the structure here disclosed I have combined the requisites for both types of spacing devices. More particularly, however, I have provided a beam spacer which is of general utility in that it may be sold to the contractor in lengths; that is, in sections having a length of 20 to 30 feet or more, if desired, and-is so constructed that the contractor may sever from the sections suitable lengthsv of spacers for any ordinary beam width or for any other use; in other words, I provide a-spacer having supporting legs or chairs so arranged and spaced apart that a plurality of sections of beam spacers may be cut from a length of theelement, each severed section having all the requi sites of a, practical beam chair. This enables the contractor to supply himself with a stock of the spacing elements which may be cut up at pleasure in order to provide beam spacers '0' any desired length. The result is secured by.so spacing apart the legs or supporting elements as to permit of the severing of proper lengths for the usual beam spacings, the sections being cut oif at a point midway between adjacent legs. This greatly simplifies the Work of the contractor for the following reason ;where it is necessary to order in advance quantities of spacers for hearing beam widths, the spacers may be received in proper separated relation so far as sizes are concerned, but almost invariably the difi'erent sizes become mixed and much time is lost in separating or selecting the sizes for a particular beam. This is avoided in my system. The construction of the spacing element itself is of importance. The design herein, shown has an important advantage in that it assures a minimum'of obstruction to the concrete and there are no elements thereof which form lines of cleavage such as occur where sheet metal strips are used either for the spacer or for the legs.

By employing wire for the different elements and by utilizing spot welding for uniting them I have great latitude in the selection of sizes or weights of wire Without change of equipment. This is a substantial advantageover the use of sheet material in which changes in the dies must be made for all changes in gauge size. There is, furthermore, no waste of material in the manufacture of the structure here shown.

A further advantage is in that the design here illustrated permits of a maximum of efficiency in nesting and bundling. A quantity of t e spacers here shown may be readily bundled and easily handled. I

The invention will be more readily understood 10' reference to the accompany drawings, w erem:

-Figure l is 'a perspective view of a section of spacing devices constructed in accordance with my invention; Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation thereof, somewhat enlarged;

Figure 3-is an end view of the same;

Figure 4 is a sectional view showing the manner of useof the device as a beam chair;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a slightly modified form of the device;

Figure 6 is a transverse view of the same;

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 4 but showing a further useof the modified form of the device; and

Figure 8 is a view taken at right angles to that of Figure 7.

In the drawings, and referring particu larly to Figures 1., 2 and 3, it will be seen that the, device of my invention in its sim plest form comprises a single longitudinal wire 16 of indefinite length. Secured to the wire 10, preferably by welding, are legs or chairs of generally V-shape, having, in the present instance, legs 11 and feet 12, the two elements being joined at the apex of the V. This results in a structure of the simplest possible form and one in which the metal is disposed to best advantage to re sist a load imposed on the wires.

The spacing of the chairs or legs 11 is an important feature and will. be controlled by the usual beam spacing required in building construction. These beams are usually 8, 12 inches, more or less, in width, the variation being usually in two inch degrees. This being the case I prefer to space the legs 1 ths inches apart. Thus it the contractor desires spacers for a ten inch beam he will sever a plurality of the proper elements from a length of the structure the severing being done on the lines 13 in Figure 1. This will provide spacers of proper length with the necessary elearness for easy insertion in the form as shown in Figure 4. Bars 14 are then placed on the spacer and it a second row of reinforcing bars is required the spacing element shown in Figures 5 and 6 may be utilized and that structure will now be described.

The elements consisting of a longitudinal wire 15 and legs 16 are identical with those heretofore described. In addition, however, I provide two longitudinal wires 17--18, which are weldedto the feet 19 of the legs 16. In effect the legs or chairs are of triangular outline and wires 15-17-18 are welded to the legs at the angles of the triangle. This form of the device possesses the same facility for subdivision into multiples as that heretofore described.

In use a suitable section of the spacer shown in Figures 5 and 6 may, as illustrated in Figure 4, be laid upon the bars 14 and serve as a support for other bars 20, or, as illustrated in Figures 7 and 8, the structure maybe used to span a form 21 for a beam and support a T iron 22 upon which ,eeaeic the bent ends 23 of reinforcing bars are mounted. A structure constructed as shown in Figures 5 and 6 possesses relatively great strength considering the weight of metal employed, and as it offers but little obstruction to the concrete it has been found to be of meat value wherever employed.

n Figures 7 and 8 I have illustrated a further adaptation of the form shown in Figures 1 2 and 3. The elements are identical except that the legs 24, may be of somewhat greater cross-sectional; area due to their increased length. Thus a second row of reinforcing bars may be supported from the form instead of being supported by the first row of bars.

in ll the forms of the structure described, however, the important and fundamental advantage is the facility with which it may be cut up into the desired lengths without waste and still retain the prime requisite of rigidity and strength. Obviously the construction is capable of considerable modification and I do not Wish to be limited except as indicated in the appended claims.

The construction here; disclosed is a modification of or improvement in the construction shown in my co-pending application Serial No. 391,775, filed June 25, 1920.

I claim:

1. A. spacer comprising in combination, av single longitudinal wire and a plurality of ii-shaped legs or chairs welded thereto at the apex of the V, and a longitudinal wire welded to the extremity of each of the legs of the V.

2. In a spacer the combination of three longitudinally extending wires and a plurality of supports of generally triangular shape in outline, said supports being suitably spaced apart lon itudinally of the wires, a wire being welded to a support at each angle of the triangle.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 22nd day of January, 1921.

WILLIAM E. WHITE 

